11.12.13- Blush it on!

Oh yes today has become the red letter day when my baby learns how to blush! ;) Well what happened was this- her very favorite Kaka mamu winked at her and every time he did that, she blushed... and did I add, "profusely"? It was hillarious to watch. :)

And to add to the drama queen moment, we later also had a tantrum thrown, when Alakh was narrating to others how this was happening and everyone looked at Ami to watch her blush.... Naturally my baby got angry & slightly embarrassed at this show on interest by all the adults around her. :)

So we had to literally get her in the mood again before we could click our group pic! Gosh! Kids...! 

Yay! Pizza!!!!

Sunday was our Pizza Night... And to our pleasant surprise, Ami greeted our delivery boy with "Yay! Pizza!!!" 

We hadn't even told her that that's what was ordered. :P 

I had done this routine once before with her- where I raised my hands saying "Yay!" And then "Pizzaaaa".... My very observant pixie has caught on and did it completely on her own this time around :)

I video captured the moment by asking her to do it again. My brat obliged though the spirit of the spontaneity was something else...! ;)

2-2 Stars...!

The first thing Ami told me today, when I picked her from school was "Mumma! Ami 2-2 Stars!" On enquiring I was told that the class teacher shows her appreciation for something done by the students by drawing stars on their hands. So "2-2 stars" meant Ami had been a good girl in school today. It was the first proud moment of achievement for my baby. :)

 

Hair Spa? Nahhhh! You are a mom!

What do you expect from your 2 year old daughter when you get a Hair Spa and get your hair blow dried? Hmmm....

Option 1: Mumma you look Nice!
Option 2: Mumma! I want to do what you have done too...
Option 3: Did you do something to your hair Mumma? 
Option 4: Nothing at all. Coz well she's too busy!

Well how about, if your daughter gives you your hairband (as soon as she sees you) and tells you to tie your hair up? ('coz she finds it more comfy sleeping on your shoulder when your hair's not bothering her) Sigh! Life!!!! ;)

Our day at the zoo!

If a few years back someone had told me that one winter morning, I'll actually go to the zoo and enjoy myself there, I'd have laughed at the idea. But well, times, things and lives change, and with that, priorities & simple pleasures take a shift too.  

So, we took Ami & our niece Karuna to the zoo today. Now that she's two, and can say the name of many animals, she has earned the right to go to the zoo :P Staying in Gurgaon, visiting the Delhi zoo was naturally taken up as a project. The plan was to reach there by 10, so we could enjoy the place and avoid the crowd. But as is usual with us, we left home late and got there only by 11:30. The Sahai's were later still, so we got the tickets & patiently waited for them. :)

A Note to anyone going: Don't carry any eatables, its just NOT allowed inside. All sandwiches which we had painstakingly made (early in the morning), so as to have a 'picnic' had to be left in the car outside. I managed to sneak in my daughter's orange juice & cheese slices, though they actually check to see you aren't carrying anything.

Once we were in, the girls went crazy. Left our hands and ran like they were proving a point to the animals- 'look we are free!' :) Tssk Tssk! We went wild keeping up with them... The excitement was just too much- "Mumma look "Duck", "Lion", "Tiger", "Elephant", "Giraffe"...! And some new ones were added to their vocabulary- "Jaguar, Alligator, Leopard, Turtle, Reptiles etc etc..." 

Let me tell you, I'm definitely not an animal's person. Meaning I don't get excited like other people when I sight an animal, so I was more than happy in the back seat clicking snaps of all the excitement. 

 

Another Note: We walked 4-5 kms that day. (And we didn't even cover it all). This place is HUGE, so comfy footwear and clothes is a must. You could also carry a hat & sunglasses. There are some small beverage joints conveniently placed along with decently clean toilets for visitors. Benches under huge trees to take a moment to rest, complete the picture! :)

Naturally our day had to end with lunch, coz we were starving by the time we got out... Here I'm with my cute little niece. :)

Symmetry... Really?

So there I was simply having a normal evening, when Ami started gathering our footwear and playing with it. She was arranging them in her own fashion and moving around as if she was busy at making art. :) I'm usually the first person to bring out my stern "Amiiiiiii" when she touches footwear (for obvious germ reasons), but that evening the interest with which she was doing her task, made me stop and wonder what she was actually doing. 

Once she was done and had moved on to her new task (coz her attention span is too less for now), I actually walked up to see what she had been doing with our footwear. And was pleasantly surprised to find 'Symmetry'. 

I have never thought her anything like this till date and I do know she's far too young to understand the concept of symmetry (when she doesn't even understand left and right); but call it fluke or beginners luck, there I was, staring at symmetry in footwear. I was stunned to see that she had done it intuitively.

I later did google "when do children start understanding symmetry?" to see if it was a common phenomenon that I was just not aware of, but didn't find any articles convincingly explaining the same. So for today, my brain wants to believe my baby is going to be a math-wiz! Fingers crossed. Let's hope I say cheers to mommy intuitions some day...

2 much!

My baby's turned two today. :) Donno what to expect in the "troublesome twos" but am feeling blessed that I have my very-own-gorgeous-bundle of joy. :)

Of course the reference to her being a boy in the form of "Yeh toh "Khalega"?" instead of "Khalegi", was quite unexpected. So shall follow suit by making her appearance more girlie! :)

Fly so high... Direction Sky...! :)

So today's Ami's first halloween. And she is a butterfly. :) She was quite charged up to play dress up, oh & a little bubbly too... Like she is finally free to flatter her wings & fly away :)

 

My dream is to fly... Over the rainbow so high... :)

Ami turns Ammi...! My baby's baby.

Till date, I have never seen Ami as excited by anything we have bought her, as she was when we bought her baby home. :) The look of extreme delight & excitement she had on her face then, was so surprising and completely gorgeous to look at. It was not just satisfying to me coz I'm her mother, but any onlooker could make out just how excited she was with her baby...

The first thing she did, post her sleep the next day was ask where her baby was... :)

Check out the possessive stand :)

She wanted to take the baby to School with her... The only reason she didn't (thankfully) was 'coz 'baby ko ninni aa rahi thi' (its a bedtime baby) ;)

Putting baby to sleep...

So she says 'bye' to the baby. Along with a lot of gibberish instructions which I'm going to think meant "mummy ko tang' matt karna" :P; before leaving for school.

 

And now the baby goes everywhere Ami does... :)

Chacha's baby...!

When asked if "Ami was Mumma's baby or Papa's baby?" The Brat looked straight faced at both of us and actually said "Chacha's baby!" :)

Turning the No's into Yes!

As a 2 year old, you probably hear 'No' all the time... No this is not good for you or No don't do that... No don't pick this up or No, don't eat that... So its hardly surprising that 'No' is one of the first words in our child's vocabulary. Don't they learn to say 'No' much-much before learning to say 'Yes'? 

I have been seriously contemplating, whose fault that is? As parents we want our children to be independent and learn to face the world, but we probably don't allow them space to do just that. Albeit unintentionally, but we do condition them to be less independent by saying No to everything they want. We do not let them reach their true potential, 'coz our natural instinct is to-protect. And in being protective sometimes, we just don't let them be...

I read this somewhere and really liked it- "It's hard being a 2 yr old...There're things u want, but "NO" you're told. There's not enough hours in the day, 2 learn all d words they expect u to say. I've done well up 2 this time I've learnt what's theirs n what's MINE. I've used my legs n learned 2 walk, I've listened hard n learned 2 talk. I've learned 2 count from one 2 ten, n then I say it all again, u'll hear them say that I'm so bright, Coz I know my colors, black, red n white. Life's a twinkle, let's go to the zoo, remember mommy, I'm just two! :)"

This morning I faced one such dilemma too. Ami, brought a bottle of water to me and insisted she wanted to drink water straight from it (rather than the straw bottle or straw glass she generally prefers). My natural instinct was to say "No Ami, don't drink from the bottle, you will spill water all over you." but then a small voice inside said "So what? Let her do it, even if she does end up spilling the water." 

In hindsight, I'm glad I heard that small voice and let her have water straight from the bottle. Had I not, I'd have never known that my daughter was actually capable of drinking water from the bottle (miraculously without spilling it :)) and I'd have never got to see the precious little look of accomplishment she had on her face when she finished having the water. 

This got me thinking, that maybe as parents, we don't even realize this many times. Its not like we don't want our child to learn and grow. We only say No, coz of the fear of what happens if they don't do it right. Sometimes putting things (that might break in the process) much before our own kid. But maybe, just maybe, as parents, our task is not just to say "No" but also know when to give-in and say "Yes!" I agree its a fine balance, and we'd all have to learn as we play, but isn't that true for everything in life? 

From Imp to Pixie :)

Anyone who knows Ami & me, knows I have a tom-boy for a daughter. Someone who makes it known, she prefers cars & balls to barbies & soft toys... Who prefers jeans to dresses... Who loves running around screaming and lets us know her dis-pleasures (with anything) immediately. 

So imagine my surprise when this weekend, quite out of the blue, I noticed some girlish behaviour in my pixie and her wanting to do things I did. :) To start with, on Saturday, after getting her ready, when I was getting ready myself, she came and stood by me at the mirror. When I put my eyeliner & kajal, she insisted I put them for her too. And then the same request was made for lipbalm. It had me in all smiles... But as if this wasn't enough, a little later in the day, she also wanted to borrow my stole to wear it herself. And finally she wanted me to let her carry a handbag of her own... :) 

See, let me clarify  I have absolutely no problem in having a girlie baby who's into girlish stuff... I wud absolutely luv that kinnda daughter too, but Ami's well always been more boyish, so it did come as a pleasant surprise. :)

And as I close this, the song in my head is...

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine

You make me happy when skies are grey

You never know, dear, how much I love you

Please don't take my sunshine away... :)"